Key Lesson
People & Goals

When starting your Narrative Framework or story, your focus should be on the
people you aim to ultimately serve. A compelling narrative often has people at
its heart. The next piece we emphasize in this lesson is your organizational
goals which will help improve the lives of the people it serves.

In this lesson, you will describe all the people involved in your cause ranging
from beneficiaries to supporters and your organizational goals in depth.

People you Serve

Your organization cares about improving people’s lives. You may think of them
as beneficiaries, end users, clients, customers or just the people you serve.
Regardless, it’s vital that you describe them in strategic ways. Your audience
is more likely to support your cause if they empathize with and respect the
people who benefit from your work. To build this empathy, avoid dry demographic
descriptions and think of personal attributes that describe the people you
serve. For example, you could translate “low-income people” to “hardworking
families.” Picture the people who benefit from the work you do and write down
qualities that come to mind when you think about these people.

Your beneficiary is not always a community of people. For example, an
organization like World Wildlife Federation serves animals and Greenpeace
serves the environment.

Example:
A high school diploma is an important step in preparing a young person to live
an independent, secure and happy life and to contribute to America's economic
competitiveness as part of an educated, innovative workforce. But one-quarter
of our high school students drop out of school without getting a diploma — more
than 1 million every year.

1.
Describe your beneficiaries.

Tip:
List specific groups that are directly affected by the issue or care about the cause, instead of broad categories like “the general public.” Your audiences are more likely to understand and care about your cause if they can relate to the specific groups in your story or understand how the issue directly impacts their own lives.

People you work with

Your audience also needs to understand the roles of your staff and partners if
they’re going to be motivated to support them. Often times, the important work
these people do is obscured or forgotten in storytelling. Describing the
various people who are necessary to make the cause successful can create a
sense of momentum towards accomplishing a goal, and motivate more support for
your organization.

2.
Describe your staff & partners

Tip:
When describing the work of staff and partners, try to include tangible ways in which their work benefits the people you serve. This will demonstrate to your audience why their role is important, and it will ensure that your narrative keeps people in the picture.

3.
Who is helping to overcome the problem and advance the solution?

Describe up to six distinct groups

Tip:
Your stories don’t need to be for everyone—they are for people who would be interested in your cause and have something to contribute to your success.

4.
What is the most important way these supporters can help your organization advance your cause?

Select one

Tell other people about my organization
Share information about an issue with their social networks
Change attitudes about a topic
Donate or raise money
Motivate other people to take a specific action
Communicate with decision-makers
Other / Another way

5.
Which of these best describes the geographic makeup of your supporters?

Select one

People specific to a local group, community, town or city
People specific to an entire country
People in many countries

Supporters

Helping the people you serve to reach their goals requires another group of
people—your supporters. These supporters may be staff, volunteers, donors or
partner organizations. These people can also play an important role in the
stories you tell. They are people who want to see themselves in your work, so
be sure to paint a clear picture of who can help and how.

In this section, you’ll describe the people who will play a role in advancing
your cause.

Example:
America's Promise is a national partnership that brings together hundreds of
national nonprofits, businesses, communities, educators and ordinary citizens
behind the idea of making the promise of America accessible to all young people.

Organizational Goals: What does your organization want to achieve?

Your organization has goals that it thinks will help improve the lives of the
people it serves. Describe the goals and how they relate to the well-being of
these people. Try to stay “aspirational”: How will your work advance the hopes
and values of the people you serve? Consider what they want for their own
lives, and how the world will be different for them if your organization’s work
was successfully accomplished.

Example:
The work is powered by the belief that all children are capable of learning and
thriving, and that every individual, institution and sector shares the
responsibility to help young people succeed.

7.
What goal is your organization trying to achieve through the work you do?

Tip:
Thinking visually can help evoke more vivid, aspirational language. If you’re struggling to describe your goal, try a simple visual exercise: Draw the world as it would be for the people you serve if your organization’s work was successfully accomplished. What does it look like? How is it different from the world as it exists for them now?

You're almost there.

Well done!

You're on your way to creating your Narrative Framework. Now, you could consider defining the problems your beneficiaries are facing, the solutions you can offer and your call to action to motivate your audiences to help you achieve your goal.